Alexander Zickler (born 28 February 1974) is a German professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and a former player who played as a striker. He is the assistant manager of Marco Rose at

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

. He spent 12 years of his professional career with Bayern Munich, appearing in more than 300 official games and winning 19 major titles, notably seven

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

championships and the 2001 Champions League. He also played six years in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

with two clubs. Zickler was a German international for four years, but did not attend any major international tournament.

Club career

Dynamo Dresden

Born in

Bad Salzungen Bad Salzungen () is a town in Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wartburgkreis district. Geography Location Bad Salzungen is situated on the river Werra, east of Tiefenort and south of Eisenach. Divisions In July 2018 the form ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, Zickler began his career with

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, is a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

, having joined the club's youth system in 1980 as a six-year-old. In the 1992–93 season, he played with the first team in the

, making his debut in the competition on 23 October 1992 in a 1–2 home loss against 1. FC Nürnberg and eventually helping them narrowly avoid relegation.

Bayern Munich

In July 1993, Zickler transferred to Bayern Munich for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

1,187,300, initially playing with the reserves. From his second season onwards he became a first-team regular, helping the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

ns capture seven German championships and four German cups, adding the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

(eight games and two assists from the player during the campaign). Zickler played in 24 league games – scoring three goals – in 2000–01 as Bayern won the league. In the campaign's

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, against

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, he entered the game as a substitute and successfully converted his penalty kick in the

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...

, which ended in win. During his time in the top flight, he broke the record as the highest goal-scoring substitute of all time, scoring 18 times in 102 appearances off the bench; however, his career was often hampered by injuries and medical conditions: in 2002, he had surgery to remove a

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

from his right shin bone which caused him to miss out on participation in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. One year later, he was again hospitalized with a break in his previously operated leg, followed by another shin break only a few days before the start of 2003–04. Shortly before his return into Bayern's first team, Zickler broke his shin for the third time while playing with Bayern Munich II.

Austria

upleft, Zickler with Salzburg in 2009 In June 2005, Zickler tried his chances at

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

's Red Bull Salzburg, signing on a "performance-related" deal alongside former Bayern teammate Thomas Linke. In his first season, he helped the club to the second position, adding nine goals in 31 matches. In the 2006–07 campaign, in the return leg of the Champions League second qualifying round, Zickler scored through a penalty to give the Red Bulls a 2–0 victory over

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and advance them into the next stage, where they lost to Valencia. On 30 November 2006, he was voted the APA Footballer of the Year by the league's managers, and finished the domestic campaign with 22 goals (a competition best), being instrumental, with Linke, in the side's national league conquest. In the 2010 off-season, Zickler joined fellow league club

LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as LASK (), or Linzer ASK, is an Austrian professional football club based in Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Football Bundes ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He made his debut on 21 August, replacing Florian Hart in the 61st minute in a 0–2 away defeat against Wacker. On 25 September 2010, Zickler scored his first and only goal for LASK, in a 3–3 draw at

SV Mattersburg SV Mattersburg was an Austrian association football club from Mattersburg, Burgenland. History The club was formed in 1922 and played its home games at the 17,100 capacity Pappelstadion. The club played in the Bundesliga The Bunde ...

. He retired from football at the end of 2010–11 aged 37, as his team also suffered relegation.

International career

Zickler was capped 12 times for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He made his debut on 18 November 1998, coming on as a substitute for

Mario Basler Mario Basler (born 18 December 1968) is a German Association football, football manager and former professional player who mainly played as a right midfielder. He is currently at TSG Eisenberg as a player and advisor. A dead-ball specialist, Ba ...

in a 1–1 draw against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. On 16 August 2000, he scored his first international goal(s), netting twice in a 4–1 friendly victory over

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, in

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. Zickler made his final appearance for the national team on 11 October 2002 in a 1–1 away friendly draw against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, retiring from international football later in that year.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

;Bayern Munich *

: 1993–94, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2004–05; Runner-up 1998–99 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German association football, football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five t ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

: 2000–01 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 1995–96 * Intercontinental Cup:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

;Red Bull Salzburg *

Austrian Football Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

: 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10

Individual

: Topscorer 2006–07, 2007–08 * Austrian Footballer of the Year: 2005–06 *Austrian Footballers Association Player of the Year: 2006–07

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zickler, Alexander 1974 births Living people People from Bad Salzungen Sportspeople from Bezirk Suhl German men's footballers Footballers from Thuringia Men's association football forwards Bundesliga players Dynamo Dresden players FC Bayern Munich II players FC Bayern Munich footballers Austrian Football Bundesliga players FC Red Bull Salzburg players LASK players Germany men's international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers German expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria German expatriate sportspeople in Austria UEFA Champions League–winning players UEFA Europa League–winning players Borussia Mönchengladbach non-playing staff German football coaches East German men's footballers